VAI (Vormittag Associates) announces that Black River Produce, the New England-based food wholesaler, is optimizing their supply chain with VAI’s S2K for Food solution.
By implementing VAI's industry-leading ERP system, Black River Produce has experienced a dramatic improvement in both operational efficiency and customer delivery.
"S2K has been the system-changing IT refresh that we needed," said Sean Buchanan, President at Black River Produce. "Before S2K, we were relying too heavily on subjective feelings. With the new ERP system, we are now able to extract and analyze business-critical information to make data-informed strategic decisions."
When Black River Produce was founded in the late 1970s, its founders drove a VW bus from the Boston wholesale market to southern Vermont farms, supplying local restaurants and retail stores along the way. Today, Black River Produce has more than 2,000 wholesale customers, including stores, schools, restaurants, ski areas, hospitals and farm stands. The old VW bus has evolved into a fleet of refrigerated trucks that deliver fresh and frozen food to customers throughout Vermont, most of New Hampshire, and parts of New York and Massachusetts. This tremendous growth served as the catalyst for adopting the VAI S2K solution; as the Black River Produce supply chain spread, they needed improved visibility, communication and automation.
"Black River Produce, by using S2K, is now far more proactive than we have been in the past. I feel strongly that as we expand, S2K will be able to adapt with us. VAI has made many accommodations for us along the way, and we are pleased that they will remain a trusted partner."
Black River Produce is utilizing VAI's S2K Mobile, WMS, Portal, Analytics, Financial, Distribution, Manufacturing and Customer Relationship Management applications from the S2K software suite. The company has experienced significant increases in productivity and accuracy, as well as fast training.
"We're excited to work with Black River Produce as they continue growing and evolving," said Joe Scioscia, vice president of sales at VAI. "Being able to monitor the entire supply chain, from sales opportunities to delivery status to truck locations, is crucial for a food wholesaler like Black River Produce that has built a respected brand by providing quality products on time. Our S2K solution will ensure their teams have deep insight into each of the business transactions that unfold as they deliver to their customers."
